Omni Nashville Hotel Attracts Financing

Eighteen months after completing the $250 million development of the Omni Nashville Hotel in Nashville, TRT Holdings has just secured financing for the 800-key property from Prudential Mortgage Co.

“They did a very nice job building the Omni Nashville, it’s a great asset,” Steven Hoffer, a consultant with hotel investment advisor The Highland Group, told Commercial Property Executive.

Located downtown at 250 Fifth Ave., the HKS-designed Omni Nashville features a host of amenities–80,000 square feet of meeting space and a 5,500 square-foot spa, to name just a few–and holds the distinction of being the official headquarters hotel of the new 1.2 million-square-foot Music City Center convention facility. And further adding to its prominence, the 21-story lodging destination is also connected to the renowned Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

TRT relied on the assistance of commercial real estate and capital markets services firm HFF to obtain the financing, which came in the form of a fixed-rate loan. Lenders are keen on Nashville’s hospitality sector, and for good reason.

“Nashville is one of the hotter hotel markets in the country,”Hoffer said. “Nashville is probably for sure now a Tier 2 city as far as conventions go and right now there is an undersupply of rooms downtown, especially to host conventions.”

Developers are well aware of the notable gap between hotel supply and demand in Nashville, specifically downtown, and are acting accordingly. In May 2014, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. revealed that the Westin brand would make its debut in the city with the development of the 430-room Westin Nashville, just across the street from Music City Center. Starwood landed approximately $100 million in financing consisting of three facilities for the project, including a first mortgage construction loan, a mezzanine loan and a TIF loan. And in November, Turnberry Associates announced plans for the 500- to 600-room JW Marriott Nashville, which will mark the first JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts property in the city.

“Everyone seems to want to build in Nashville right now for obvious reasons,” Hoffer added. “There’s a ton of interest in a market like this.”